Gamindustri Rising
by Rice Farmer
Summary: A 'reboot' of Hyperdimension Neptunia: Demon Lord, this FF will follow events after Gamindustri falls out of the sky, and the steps a few youngsters will take in protecting their home amidst a new environment. Will be romantic elements. Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** It took awhile to get here, but we finally made it. After mulling over everything over and over, I've decided that writing out the rest of the plot of the original story wasn't worth my time, and isn't worth your time reading. With that note, I've decided to skip over it, and there will be excerpts throughout this reboot that will give plot-vital information. So without further ado, here we go!

This 'reboot' will first consist of this chapter, and a few side-stories of characters that will make up most of the main cast of the main story. You can find these stories posted here, or separately as their own stories on my profile.

* * *

**XIANG**

"..." I inhaled sharply as I sat back in my chair at my desk in the upper floors of my office. I closed my eyes as I exhaled a heavy sigh. I was stressed, to say the least. The reason? The paper I had passed across my desk. Griffin Gaff. Age 16. Died in a dungeon after illegally registering under a fake ID at the Guild.

I massaged my eyes, the jaded part of myself being annoyed at the stupidity of it all. There was an age requirement for a reason.

'_Why do you even care so much? They are just some stupid, random children that are more concerned with getting themselves killed.' _A familiar voice would groan in my mind. Auguste. A demon residing inside of my soul, and a companion for as long as my life were to continue.

As Auguste would complain inside of me, an assistant of mine would stumble in with more reports and information for me to sift through. Upon seeing my state of stress, she would speak up.

"U-Um… Mr. Xiang, m-maybe it would be best to take a break?" The assistant would squeak out. I opened my eyes to look at the assistant, my general look making her flinch a little. "I-I mean…" She would shy away.

A rather small girl, compared to the average, only about 5'2", her defining features would be her big brown eyes and timid personality. Top it off with brown shoulder-length hair that flowed loosely around her shoulders, and you have the assistant named Emmy

I would soften my expression, having noticed it getting a little bit… strained as of late. "It can't be helped, Emmy. After all, we're all still recovering from the shock of the Great Gamindustri Crash." I shook my head. "Despite the physical damage being minimal… the after-effects were- still, devastating."

The Great Crash… reminiscent of a stock market crash, the effects are felt for a while after the actual event. Well… it would have been a lot worse…

* * *

_**A year ago…**_

The basilicom shuddered as we go about our day as alarms started blaring, alerting to a rather fatal error.

"_Warning. Flight Crystals damaged. Altitude Decreasing. Immediate action required."_ And so the warning blared in my ears as I rushed out of the office I was in, immediately bumping into Noire, though I ran right past her, dialing up the other CPUs, sending them an emergency message.

"H-Hey, what's going on?! Don't just ignore me! HEY!" The CPU in which I've since pledged my services to would shout after me as I ran to the staircase.

"Can't you listen? We need to get down there. Now, let's go!" I said, diving down the center of the spiral staircase, feeling the wind resistance getting higher and higher as I accelerated down towards my destination…

As I was falling, I got similar messages back. Seems that we were not the only one who was being attacked. I should have figured as much. The flight crystals of the other nations should have been more than enough to keep one, even two nations afloat.

As I landed at the bottom, which damn did landing hurt quite a lot, I was greeted by a rather bone-chilling scene. ASIC grunts, sprawled over the place and in-between me and the central console.

I pulled out my firearm, intent on stopping them with rather… excessive force.

…

…

Well… this didn't go as planned. I may have been overzealous in firing at the grunts, who now returned fire with impunity at my measly cover behind a thick stone wall. The metal at my feet would crack and bang with loud noises as rounds hit it, the metal walkway being the only thing between myself and miles of freefall.

"_Come on… any moment now…"_ I would think to myself as I finally as Noire would burst in through the side, her quick and devastating sword cutting through grunts, incapacitating them of course.

"That took long enough." I would say as Noire would glare at me. I had to say, even with as long as I have lived, I have never seen a transformation like what the CPUs could accomplish. But I digress.

"Focus, Xiang. Stop them from dropping us out of the sky!" Noire would command me as I spurred myself into action, charging.

A grunt got in my way, swinging a cleaver at my stomach. Futile. The cleaver passed right through my abdomen, a smoky haze along the path of the cleaver as I shot him point blank, the hollow point spreading throughout his system as his body collapsed before me.

Eventually, I got to the crystal. A glowing blue mass, now turned red from the interference of a few annoying little rats… one literally.

"You're too late chu!" Warechu would smirk at me as 'Underling' bashed the console in with her barbed bat. I felt myself cringe a little as the console needed to be intact to stop… whatever it is that they did with it.

"You have no idea what you just did!" I would shout. "The impact that we would have… it would be devastating to _everyone_!" I would growl. Having fell off of Gamindustri once before, the distance was more than enough to annihilate Gamindustri… no, the entire planet below us.

"Haha! Not our problem bud!" Underling would grin, attaching a hook to her belt. "With this, the CPUs are done, and Arfoire will rise!" She would say, clicking a button and grabbing Warechu. The belt ended up being attached to a drone, which pulled them along and out of harms way as Noire landed beside me.

"Xiang, what's going on?" Noire would ask, to which I replied, "We're fucked. They busted the console." And as the replies came over our communications network, it would seem that ASIC was successful in all the other nations as well. "And it looks like the others couldn't stop it either. And at this rate…" I would look as the sea came into my view.

No more words needed to be said. "I can feel the panic of everyone… praying to be saved." Noire would say, standing up straight. "Like hell I will let it end like this!" Noire would fly to the central point underneath Lastation, beginning to thrust as much as she could, her wings creating a plume of exhaust behind her.

I bit my lip and took off my shirt and suit-jacket, letting my wings unfold. Black as night, and large enough to cover a car, I would follow suit and help Noire. After all, what kind of assistant would I be otherwise?

As the ocean got closer, Noire began to become more desperate, putting 120% of her effort into saving her nation. And just when things began to look even darker, three glowing lights blew past our sight, shocking both of us. A fourth light, stopped in-between us as a girl who had a striking resemblance to Noire would take up position.

"Let's do this!"

* * *

As I finished my recollection of the events, I would shake my head. "While thanks to our new CPU candidates, we were able to slow our descent to nearly 2-3 meters per second. But the shockwaves were more than felt as buildings collapse, as I'm sure you remember."

Emmy would lower her eyes. It was fresh in many minds. Buildings collapsed, and if you were unlucky enough to be in range of one, it was more than enough to cause illness, injuries, and even death.

"But, while our economy is recovering to a suitable point, there are some families that are undeniably in an unrecoverable state." I would pass along a piece of paper detailing of a certain young man that had just been flagged for registering for the Guild while being underaged. "Many kids are looking for ways to make it through the next day by joining the Guild, due to their high payout." I would finish my lecture to Emmy.

"A-And I'm truly grateful that you decided to hire me!" Emmy would bow, making me feel slightly self conscious.

"And you fulfill your work fine… but look at the time. I think you should head home soon." I would say, waving her goodbye as she scurried off. She was a good kid. But I couldn't possibly hire every orphan and child who needed money.

That's why I have binged all of my hopes on one project. Gamacademy. It was sure to be a hell of an expense, most of which would not even be in the construction.

I swiveled around in my chair, standing up with a few papers, looking up at a rough world map. Turns out, when we fell, the tidal waves we sent more than attracted a few nations.

Oskana. A nation to the north. A hardened people, who live in harsh conditions nearly year round. Despite all that, the harsh conditions have forged the people who live there into incredible traders. I have yet to see their pride and joy; however, it would seem that they have mastered the art of forging with obsidian.

Toshiara. A 'Japanese'-influence country if there ever was one. Their most notable aspect is their ability to produce skillful warriors, typically honor-bound by a code. They tend to keep mostly to themselves; however, there are rumors that there may be in-fighting as of late.

Regia. An interesting country to say the least. Nearly 25% of the populace is that of being a noble. Under their combined rule, the commoners living below them seem to have no complaints. That being said, it is not as if they do not know any better, many commoners being of scientific background. In times of war, it is the nobles that step into battle first, before all else. An honorable system, it would seem.

Forctia. Like the name suggest, the people native to this land are without a doubt, the most physically capable. The average height is 6'3", a whole half a foot above Gamindustri, and nearly 3/4th of a foot above Oskana. They say that their IQ average is much lower… though there are bound to be exceptions. Their kinetic technology seems to back up that assumption.

Those are the four most notable nations… and to top it all off, we managed to land right in the middle of everything, becoming a literal and metaphorical focal point for everyone's attention.

I could deal with it later. For now, they do not seem to have any ill-will; however, it did not stop the nations from trying to exploit us. I pinned various forms onto various locations. The preparations for our Academy were already underway and being constructed… now all that I need was the talent…

I looked at the marked people of interest, smiling as I got back to work.


	2. Chapter 2 - Jamie

**Jamie**

_Cough! Ack! Cough!_

The sounds of my mother as I tend to her for the day. "Mom! Don't push yourself!" I said, worry sprawled across my face. I was visibly stressed, that much I could tell by how my mother's hand glided over my face, her soft expression comforting, even in her suffering.

"Relax Jamie… You should go out and have fun." She would say, "Julia should be home any minute now." She would burst into another coughing fit, only increasing my worry. My mother was one of the unlucky ones. She happened to be near a power plant when the Great Fall happened, the debris causing her current condition.

"I can't mom… you know that." I would shake my head. "With my dead-beat father long gone, I have to make money for us." My facial expression would visibly harden when I mentioned my father. Conversely, my mother's face softened.

"You know it isn't his fault, Jamie." She softly whispered. But I wasn't having any of it, as I stood up.

"...I'm heading out now then." I say, silently leaving to stew in my own hatred as I started walking the streets of Lastation. People say that my father died saving Lastation's GPU. Guardian Patron Unit. Basically just a dog for the CPUs to command. They say that him dying, saved thousands more.

What a load of shit.

People around the continent said that we were lucky, that we had less lasting damage than that of Planeptune and Leanbox. But what does that matter, if I can't protect my family?

I've made up my mind as I walked into one of the lesser known and lesser regulated Guild hubs. It was usually used for Guild members who didn't want to be bothered to travel to the inner areas of the city to the main hub. I had my father's ID picture from when he was only 18. My mother cherished it.

"_At least he left behind __**something**__ useful."_ I bitterly thought to myself as I steeled my resolve. The Guild was the _only_ place where I could get the money I needed to treat my mother, and to support my little sister. It couldn't be _that_ risky.

The clerk compared my picture to the ID, and gave me a suspicious look. "What?" I asked, hoping my voice sounded deeper than it really was. I really hoped my voice didn't crack…

"Nothing." The clerk would hand me back the ID, filling out paperwork and taking a new photo of myself, handing me an ID shortly afterwards. I snatched the ID, enabling me to receive profits for hunts before storming out the door with a quest in hand.

Little do I know, the clerk dialed up a number, an action that would change my life as I knew it.

* * *

**A few hours later…**

Sweat dripped down my forehead as I sprinted through the surrounding abandoned factory. I had taken a simple quest, a Dogoo infestation that seemed to have happened in a factory long gone unused since the fall. So…

"W-Why the fuck are you doing here?!" I would shout as I ran, fully knowing that the monster would not understand my words. A mechanical contraption, atrocious in its looks, deadly in design. It vaguely resembled a humanoid shape, twisted and warped with all manners of deadly blades whirring around it. And did I mention that it was way bigger than my average-sized stature?

I sprinted to the exit, but to my dismay, I found it locked. Welded shut it would seem. I panicked, looking around to find another way out, spotting windows on the balcony abo-

_**Whirr**_! _**Zzxt!**_

I dived out of the way of a saw blade cutting right through the metal where my neck was just mere moments before. Unfortunately, the ground was rough, rusted, and uneven from the years it spent unused, a piece of metal jutting out from the ground. It cut my leg wide open, causing a scream of pain as for the first time in my life, I experienced true pain.

That's when it hit me as the machine slowly stumbled towards me, more menacing than I would have thought it ever would be. I was going to die here, with a bunch of dogoos seemingly forming a circle to taunt me.

The next series of events… honestly still confuse me to this day. The windows seemed to blow right off, glass flying all over the place as a team of three busted in. Then the gunfire started raining on the area, the sounds… maybe it was because I was frightened, but it was so damn loud.

Before I knew it, the monsters had died, run-off, or had shied away, choosing to hide in a corner. I was speechless. Words would not come out of my mouth. The blood loss was getting to me…

The last thing I saw before blacking out, was one of the soldier's taking his helmet off. White hair… red eyed.

"G...PU…" I would struggle out before I passed out from blood loss.

* * *

**The Next Day**

I had woken up earlier in the middle of the night. My wound healed, and literally strapped to a hospital bed. "What in the… What kind of hospital chains their patients?" Not that it would have stopped me anyways. The locks did not prove to be very hard to get off. They even had electronic ones. Too bad they didn't spot check what I had on me when I got presumably flown in. A phone was all I needed after all.

It took me a while to get back home, having taken back routes. Someone probably was looking for me for… abruptly checking myself out of the hospital. Plus… to be admitted to the hospital, your records will come up for sure through a DNA scan. They would have known from that, that I was underaged and it was illegal for me to become a Guild Agent.

"Damnit… and the GPU got involved too…" I would cringe. What had I done to get on his radar? I didn't know much about him, but my mother never stopped talking about how competent he was, and what he contributed to Lastation in the few years since he showed up. Bullshit. All of it. After all, if he was all that great, then why did he need to be saved?

"I'm home…" I would say, taking off my shoes and walking up the stairs from the foyer of my home. I noticed a pair of shoes in the foyer as my blood ran cold. Dress shoes. We didn't own a pair of those.

I quietly moved through the house, slowly closing in on my mother's room, to which I heard… giggling? Through the door. I slowly opened the door to find my mother and the bastard GPU, sitting and having a pot of tea.

"Oh, Jamie! You're back… oh my- What happened to your leg?!" My mother would be shock full of worry.

"I… got into an accident. That's all mom." I would lie instinctively, immediately regretting the decision. _"He was there… at the factory. He knows I'm lying… I'm fucked." _I thought to myself.

"That's very unfortunate to hear, Jamie." Xiang would smile, though personally it looked devious to me. "Though I'm glad to see that you are alright and got treated. Please, come take a seat. Your mother and I were just talking about your future occupation. Though some of it is confidential, so let's step outside for a moment. I hope you do not mind." He would say to my mother, who seemed more than happy to let us go.

...What?

"What do you want? Why are you here?" I would be immediately suspicious of him. After all, he was the architect of all of my family's pain to this date after all.

"How's your leg feeling?" He would ask me, his smile turning into more of a smug look at this point.

"Fine." I would spit right back. "What were you talking about to my mother? Did you tell her? And what was with all of those locks?" I would glare right back at Xiang, shooting off question after question.

Meanwhile, Xiang seemed more interested in looking at something on a holo. "Hey! Are you even listening?" I would start to get frustrated. I was annoyed, stressed, and afraid. Looking back on it, I was acting like a brat.

"Thirty-one seconds." Xiang would say, looking at me and my confused look. "Thirty-one seconds to break off enough rusted and advanced electronic locks that would have taken your average professional an hour. With your skill, I'd normally be interested on why you're looking to throw your life away." It felt like he was staring into my soul, that look… I hated it from the start.

"With Lastation's infrastructure damaged in more than one place, you could have made more than enough with crime without ever being caught." Xiang would ask, raising an eyebrow. "So why didn't you?"

My response was to flip him off. "Mom told me not too." I replied, still glaring persistently at our GPU. "And it's easy for you to say! The Guild is the only way to make enough money to pay for the bills that keep on rolling in _every single month!_" I started ranting in anger.

"Are you done?" Xiang would ask simply crossing his legs as he took a seat at the table.

It was only now I noticed that I was breathing rather heavily. "...Why are you here?" I'd ask one more time. I didn't trust where this was going at all. Why would he come here, if not to take me to some reform program?

"This." He would slide me a files, and what looked like a brochure. Gamacademy. A future university-style academy that was under construction. I had heard rumors about it. It would become the flagship for Gamindustri as a whole against other nations that are now around us.

"So what? Why are you showing me this? To show me what my life _should_ have been? Well thanks a lot." I would spit pure venom at Xiang. It should have been clear to most people that I don't like him. So why was he still here?

"What it _could_ be." Xiang would reply. "Your father always said that you were a paranoid one. That's not necessarily bad. It'll keep you alive, as long as you listen to your gut." My mood soured even further of my father.

The benefits were… more than enough for me to consider it, despite my distrust. Tuition, room & board for my sister and I… and the expenses paid for my mother's treatment. Not only that, but he'll make sure my little stunt would get swept under the rug.

Needless to say, I leaned in. "This better not be a con." I shook my head. Nevertheless, I opened my mind to what he had to say.

"So… Let's make a deal." He would lean in…

**A/N:** This will be the first of a few short-stories for the characters that you'll likely be seeing a lot more in the coming story. As always, thank you for being patient!


	3. Chapter 3 - Aquil

**A/N: This one will be a two-parter, so stay tuned!**

* * *

…

…

_**RRRIIIIING RRRRIIIING**_!

I groaned as my alarm went off, snapping me out of… whatever it is that I was dreaming about. I felt my body come to life as time slowly went on, before the alarm started to get annoying. Rolling over on my bed, my alarm clock's short-lived life came to an end as my hand came crashing down on it.

The clock stopped ringing, having been completely smashed by my fist. "...Oops." I said, staring up at the ceiling. I had broken yet another alarm clock.

…

As I got up from my bed, the sun still not risen above the horizon, I looked in the mirror at myself. Tall. Much taller than the average Fortican. Even for a race known for their natural born physiques, apparently I was unique. "...Not like I asked for it…"

"Aquil! Come here!" I heard the sound of my mother calling for me. If there was one blessing I got for this body, it was that supporting my mother was much easier.

"'Kay mama!" I called down as I headed downstairs.

* * *

_**8AM - The Same Day**_

_Exhale…_

_Inhale…_

_Exhale…_

I can feel the stares of people around me as I was working out. "Woah damn…" One person whispered to his friend. And I couldn't blame them. "Look, look. There's even steam coming off of his body… amazing." Another person pointed out.

In either hand, I had a barbell, both loaded with a substantial amount of weight. It seemed really out of place, most people only ever getting to a fraction of the load that I could do at the moment. I set down the wait with a grunt, sitting up as I felt the sweat of my effort dripped off of my face. I looked at the two who were whispering.

The two guys flinched visibly, scurrying off to the otherside of the gym as I looked back down.

Figures. With my dark-skin and rather frightening face, a lot of people get easily intimidated by me. It doesn't help with my massive size either. While I was used to it… it doesn't mean it hurts any less.

* * *

_**Noon - The Same Day**_

The day was like any other off-day. In our ten-day week-cycle, we have the ninth-cycle and tenth-cycle day off from any amount of formal schooling. I walked through the streets, next to my mother, who was much shorter than I was. In fact, she was shorter than most females of our race.

"My son, Aquil, did you get all of your work done with Zaran?" She asked me, her voice stern, yet oddly soothing.

"Yes mama." I replied obediently to her, "Right?" I said, nudging the shorter companion that tagged along to help carry groceries around. Truth be told, he was around 15 Lums, which is much above average for most other nations.

"Mmm…" Zaran nodded while walking along. The two of us got many stares, though his were different than the ones I received often. Zaran was admittedly a handsome man. Strange that he has yet to find a girlfriend. He always turns them down… brutally. Sadistic…

As we neared the corner and out from the shade, the centerpiece of our city came into view. A monolith, or more accurately a tower, built as high up as one could see. It arched at the top, perfectly capturing the sun in its grasp. Our city was built in the desert, though while other nations have struggled to survive, Fortica is blessed with numerous sources of food that can flourish in the desert sands.

The tower was home to many trades, the place we were interested in being a bank. It was time to deposit some of our earnings after all.

As I waited on one of the waiting seats, which barely held my figure up, I closed my eyes, and took a quick nap.

* * *

_**An hour later**_

_Click_

I awoke to a very strange noise. The sound of metal clicking together. I opened my eyes, and found myself staring down a barrel. Of a gun. "Are you deaf? I said, get on the ground!" He said. I looked around in shock. There was one other person, forcing a teller to open the safe.

Wordlessly, I got down on the ground like asked. Shock was present in my system. A bank, while only a mere small fraction of a floor in the tower, being robbed? Insane.

I was going to stay put, but as I turned my head to look at Zaran, who was tied up next to me, his eyes looked… distraught. I followed where his eyes were going, and that's when I saw it.

_**My**_ mother. Being pushed around. Struck by a _**disgusting**_!

I felt something swell in me that I haven't felt in a long time.

Rage.

And everything after that? A red haze.


End file.
